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Welcome!

SIMS, The Southern Illinois Metalsmiths Society, is a student organization at Southern Illinois University. Our mission is to bring together a community of both student and local metalsmiths, and to educate through visiting artists and our annual SIMS Conference.

Metalsmiths and the public are invited to join the Southern Illinois Metalsmiths Society (SIMS) in an annual conference and auction that will take place Friday, October 27th and Saturday, October 28th.

We are pleased to announce Lee Sauder and James Austin as the 2017 visiting artists. A collaborative demonstration by Sauder and Austin will be from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, October 28th at the L. Brent Kington Studio in the Pulliam Industrial wing on the SIUC campus. Former visiting artists have included Jake James, Seth Gould, David Clemons, Wendell Broussard, Joe Muench, and John Haley III, just to name a few.

We have the fine craft auction at 17th Street BBQ, 32 N. 17th Street Murphysboro for the fine art auction from 5-9 p.m. We have delightful food, drinks, and music while we’re there. The funds from this event go towards keeping student fees low and towards bringing in visiting artists year round.

And if that wasn’t enough, we also include a student exhibition with our Conference. A public reception for Form, Forge, and Fabricate, an annual juried student exhibition, will be from 5-7p.m. Friday in the SIUC University Museum. Lee Sauder and James Austin will speak about their work after the reception in a public lecture at the University Museum.

We are always looking for new friends and artists to join our community, so don’t be shy about joining us on Facebook or follow on Instagram!